Hairspring vibrating stand



y 1952 L. M. GRETHER ET AL 2,597,316

HAIRSPRING VIBRATING STAND Filed Nov. 17, 1948 2 SHEETS -SHEET 1 .r K -/a 58 55 INVEN TORS LESTER M. GRE THER HARRY A. TURNER FRED RSCHVVE/GLER I /0 BY ATTY Patented May 20, 1952 HAIBSPBING Y ATE NG STAND Le er M- Gre e a ry rne and e Sch eis e Delavao. Wis, s sn s to The George W. Borg Corporation, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Delaware App c tion No ember 48, Serial N 60,4

Claims. 1

The present invention relates in general to hairspring vibrating apparatus and more particular to so-called vibrating stands, used for supporting a balance wheel and associated hairspring while the same is being tested and regulated (vibrated), and the object of the invention is a new and improved device of this character.

More in detail, the invention provides a stand having bearings for temporarily supporting a balance wheel and rollers for adjustably securing the free end of the hairspring, the arrangement being adapted for quick and easy insertion and removal of the balance wheel and hairspring. The stand also includes means for marking the hairspring and for cutting off the surplus length thereof after the correct length has been determined.

A special feature is a very accurately adjust.- able arrangement including the upper hairspring adjusting roller and associated parts for opening the hairspring after it has been regulated and before it and the associated balance wheel are removed from the stand.

The invention and features thereof will be described more in detail in the ensuing specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top or plan view of a vibrating stand constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the stand, as seen from the right of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the rollers and associated anvil; and

Fig. 6 is a view of a balance wheel and hairspring after the same has been regulated and removed from the stand.

Referring to the drawings, in which the parts are shown twice their actual size, reference char.- acter I 0 indicates a rectangular 'base, having a longitudinal rib H on its upper surface. The rib H may be formed integrally with the base 10 and its length is about two thirds that of the base, as seen clearly in Fig. 3.

The reference character [2 indicates the frame of the stand, which is a relatively thick plate the shape of which can be seen in Figs. 2 and 3. 'It comprises a part 13 which rests ,on the base to throughout its length and is secured to the rib II by screws l6 and .11, a generally rectangular upwardlyextending part [4, and a curved part I5 which extends upward and to the right as seen in Fig. '3.

A balance wheel supported on the stand --is n icat d at 20 a d i sh wn in ies- 1 a 4, a so in Fig. 3. but ha been omitted in Fig- .2 in order not to obscure parts of the stand. The balance wheel has an arbor 2! which has a front bearing in the bearing screw 22 and a rear bearing in the endwise movable rod or shaft 30.

The bearing screw 22 is supported on the bracket 24 which is secured to the part 14 of the frame plate by screws 25 and 26. The bracket is drilled and tapped to receive the bearing screw and is slotted as indicated at 29 Fig. 2. A screw 23 serves to clamp the parts together and grip the bearing screw to prevent accidental turning thereof. The bearing screw may be adjusted, after loosening screw 23, in order to adapt the stand for regulating balance wheels having arbors which differ in length from the one shown.

The shaft 30 which carries the rear bearing for the balance wheel arbor is slidable longitudinally in the sleeve 3| which extends through a hole drilled in the part 15 of the frame plate as shown in Fig. 1, The sleeve has a press fit in this hole. The shaft 30 is operated by means of the lever 33 having a fork at ene end cooperating with the grooved head 32 with which shaft 30 is provided. The lever 3-3 has a horizontally projecting part 31 which enters a slot near the top of bracket 34 where it is secured by the pivot screw 38. {The screw 35 is threaded into a tapped hole at the left of pivot 38 and is prevented from turning by the lock nut 39. The screw 35 is hollow for a part of its length and holds a spring 36 which presses against the lever 33, tending to rotate it on its pivot 38, and thus maintainsthe head 32 of the shaft 33 in engagement with the end of the sleeve 3|.

It will be clear from the foregoing that if the free end of lever 33 is moved forward, the forked end of the lever and the shaft 30 will move to the rear, whereby the rear bearing at the end of shaft 30 will move to the rear also and release the pivot at the rear end of the arbor 21;

The rollers for gripping the free end of the hairspring 50 are indicated at 40 and 42. vThe lower roller 42 is rotatably mounted on part i5 of the frame plate 12 by means of the shoulder screw 43. This roller has a, circumferential groove, preferably knurled at the bottom and slightly greater in width than the width of the r i i The upper roller 49 is a knurled disc the thickness of which is ve y Slightly less than the width of the groove in roller 42. The dimensions are such that roller 4;!) can enter the groove without binding. The roller40 is rigidly secured to the enlarged end 44 of shaft 45 by means of the screw 4 I. Shaft 45 has bearings in the depending arms 41 and 48 of the lever 49 and the head 44 is maintained in engagement with the side of arm 41 by the spring 46. This spring is compressed between the arm 48 of lever 49 and the shank of the knob 54 which is threaded on the end of shaft 45, and not only takes up end play in the shaft but also introduces a certain amount of friction which opposes rotation of the shaft. The lever 49 is pivoted on the bracket 55 by means of the depending extension and the shoulder screw 52. The spring 53 is partly contained in a hole drilled in bracket 55 and is compressed between the bottom of this hole and the lever 49, thereby tending to rotate the lever in a counterclockwise direction, Fig. 2, and mainshown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. It has been omitted tain roller 40 in engagement with roller 42.

The described arrangement for supporting roller 40 makes it possible to rotate the roller and roller 42 engaged thereby by turning the knob 54. It will also be clear that roller 40 can be disengaged from roller 42 by depressing the free end of lever 49.

The roller 40 is adjustable in two directions relative to the roller 42. It is adjustable from front to rear of the stand and vice versa in order to accurately align it with the groove in roller 42. It is adjustable longitudinally of the stand in order to move its rotational axis to the left of the rotational axis of roller 42 more or less as required in the operation of opening a hairspring after it has been vibrated. The arrangements for accomplishing these adjustments will now be explained.

The bracket 60 is shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, from which it will be seen that it comprises a main channelled section to which the numeral 68 has been applied andan integrally formed rectangular upwardly and rearwardly extending section 64 on which bracket 55 is supported. The channelled section of bracket 68 straddles the part [4 of the frame plate [2 as seen in Fig. 4, and is movable along the said part l4 by means of the adjusting screw 6|. This screw is threaded in the part H, as shown in Fig. 3, and has an annular flange 66 which is engaged in the slot 65, shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The bracket 50 is locked in adjusted position by means of the locking screws 62 and 63 which pass through slots in the bracket and are threaded in the part l4 as shown.

The bracket 55 on which lever 49 is mounted is channelled underneath and straddles section 64 of bracket-60 as shown in Fig. 2. Bracket 55 is adjusted transversely of the stand by means of the adjusting screw 51 and is locked in adjusted position by means of screws 56 and 58. The arrangement is similar to the arrangement for adjusting and locking the bracket 60 and need not be described in detail.

The marking and cutting mechanism will now be described. This mechanism is supported on brackets by means of which it is vertically and longitudinally adjustable.

The bracket 68 is generally similar to bracket 60 previously described. It straddles part [3 of the frame plate l2, to which it is secured by the locking screws and l I. After those screws are loosened bracket 68 is movable along part l3, or longitudinally of the stand, by the adjusting screw 69. The bracket includes an integrally formed vertical section 34 which is offset to the rear of the stand. The lever 33 is pivoted at the top of said section34, as previouslydescribed.

the mounting plate 8|.

The bracket 12 includes a channelled section indicated by this reference numeral, which straddles the right hand edge of section 34 of bracket 68. Section 12 is locked to section 34 by means of locking screws 14 and I5 and is vertically movable, after the locking screws are loosened, by the. adjusting screw 13.

The bracket 12 also includes an integrally formed, forwardly offset, and generally rectangular section 16 which has an integrally formed extension 11 projecting upward and to the left as seen in Fig. 2.

The anvil may be integrally formed with This plate is secured to the section 16 of bracket 12 by means of the screws 82 and 83.

The cutting lever is indicated at 84 and is from Fig. 4, since in this view it would be largely obscured by other parts; The lever has an extension 85 seen in Figs. 1 and 3, by means of which it is pivoted on the section 11 of bracket 12. The pivotal connection includes a bolt 85 which extends through the parts 85 and TI and is secured by a nut 81.

The marking die 88 is clamped to the lever 84 by the notched plate 89 and screw 90 and is adapted to cooperate with a groove or recess in the surface of the anvil 88. A similar plate 9| and screw 92 serve to clamp the cutting shear 93 to the lever 84. The shear 93 cooperates with a shearing edge of the anvil 80 which is just to the rear of the guide 94.

The cutting lever 84 has been shown in closed position for convenience but is normally open, so that the shear 93 and die 88 are separated from the anvil 80. The lever is moved to open position by pushing the end of the lever to the rear, which rotates the lever on its pivot 86. The washer 18, secured to bracket section 18 by screw 19, is merely a stop for lever 84. It is engaged by extension 85 of the lever upon rotation of the lever through an angle of about 45 degrees.

,With the foregoing construction the cutting shear 93 and the die 88 may be removed readily for grinding or for exchange with new parts. The anvil 88 and mounting plate 8| may also be readily removed for repair or exchange. It will be understood that the anvil may be adjusted vertically relative to the rollers 40 and 42 by means of bracket 12 and adjusting screw 13 while the distance between the anvil and the rollers can be adjusted by means of the bracket 68 and adjusting screw 69.

The stand may be fastened to the table in front of the operator by means of screws, holes 98 and 99 being provided in the base [0 for this purpose.

The operation of the stand will doubtless be understood from the preceding description but may be explained briefly.

A balance wheel such as 28 may be picked up by means of a pair of tweezers and the front pivot of the arbor may be inserted in the hearing screw 22. The lever 33 is then operated to move the rod or shaft 30 to the rear so that the arbor may be aligned with the rear bearing, whereupon the lever is released, the rod 38 moves forward, and the rear pivot enters the rear bearing at the end of rod 30. The balance wheel is thus supported for oscillation as shown in Fig. 4.

The outer coil of the hairspring may now be grasped with the tweezers and inserted in the grooveirrv roller, after first depressing the end r of lever 49 to raise roller 40 out of the groove- The lever is then released and the roller 40 enters the groove on top of the hairspring against which it is pressed by the spring 53. It will be understood that while this operation is being performed the cutting lever 84 is in open position. The hairspring extends over the top of the anvil 80, as shown in Fig. 5, after it has been inserted between the rollers.

The operator now sets the balance wheel in motion as described, for example, in the pending application of Thomas B. Gibbs, Serial No. 35,043, filed June 24, 1948, and noting that the rate of the wheel is too slow, she turns the roller 40 by means of the knob 54 to feed the hairspring through the rollers to the left and shorten its effective length. This operation speeds up the rate of the wheel. The adjustment only takes a few seconds and as soon as it is completed the operator pulls the lever 84 forward to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1. This operation marks the hairspring to show where it should be pinned when assembled in a clock and cuts off the excess length, that is, the portion which extends beyond the anvil.

The operator may now return the lever 84 to open position and rotate the knob 54 far enough to feed a substantial part of the outer coil of the hairspring through the rollers. This is the so-called opening operation the purpose of which is to increase the radius of curvature of the outer coil to provide sufficient space between it and the next coil for the inner regulator pin. The hairspring may now be released from the rollers by raising the roller 40 and the balance wheel can be taken oif the stand after the rear bearing is Withdrawn by means of lever 33.

A balance wheel and hairspring on which the described operations have been performed is shown in Fig. 6. The mark or kink produced by the die 88 and the open condition of the outer coil of the hairspring are clearly shown.

The operation of opening the outer coil may be described somewhat more in detail with the aid of Fig. 5. It will be seen from this figure that the axis of roller M1 is displaced somewhat to the left of the axis of roller 42. The amount of the displacement has been exaggerated in Fig. 5 and as it is usually rather small ithas not been shown at all in Fig. 2. It is sufficient however, to produce a permanent set in the hairspring and increase its radius of curvature as it is fed through the rollers. This effect is due to the upper roller bearing down on the hairspring at a point between the points where it is supported on the edge of the anvil and the lower roller and bending it beyond its elastic limit.

The adjustment of the parts tosecure the correct opening of the outer coil is rather critical. Moving the upper roller farther to the left increases the amount of opening while moving it to the right decreases it. The amount of opening also depends somewhat on the elevation of the anvil 88. Adjustments are necessary because different batches of springs diifer in hardness. Hard springs require that the axis of roller 40 be offset to the left substantially while in the case of soft springs the axes of the rollers may be nearly in vertical alignment.

The necessary adjustments are accomplished by means of the adjustable brackets 60 and 12 and adjusting screws GI and 13, as already explained. Another adjustment that is quite critical is the adjustment of the distance between the rollers and the anvil 80, accomplished by means or the adjustable bracket; and adju ting screw 69- e d s ce referred to is'determinativeef the distance between the p n point of the hairspring'and the regulator pins when th balance wheel is assembled in a clock and only a very small error is suiiicient to put the rate of the clock outside the range of the regulator.

The invention having been described. th which is believed to be new and for which the protection of Letters Patent is desired will be pointed out in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A stand of the type described, comprising a frame, bearings mounted on said frame for supporting a balance wheel for oscillation, a pair of rollers for gripping the free end of the hairspring associated with said balance wheel, said rollers engaging the hairspring inside and outside the outer coil, respectively, nieans for rotatably mounting said rollers on said frame, means for rotating one of said rollers to feed the hairspring through the rollers and shorten its effective length, a support engaged by the inside surface of the outer coil of the hairspring after it leaves said rollers, the said outer roller being positioned between the other roller and said support, spring means adapted to press the outer roller against the hairspring to bend and deform the section of the outer coil thereof which ex tends between the inner roller and said support, to thereby increase the radius of curvature of the outer coil when the sam is fed through said rollers, and means for adjusting the position of said outer roller relative to the inner roller and said support to regulate the amount by which the radius of curvature is increased.

2. A stand as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for mounting and adjusting the outer roller on the frame includes a bracket movable relative to the frame in a direction toward said support and in the opposite direction, a micrometer screw for moving said bracket to adjust its position and the position of the outer roller, and means for securing said bracket to the frame in adjusted position.

3. A stand of the type described, comprising a frame, bearings mounted on said frame for temporarily supporting a balance wheel for oscillation about a horizontal axis, upper and lower rollers for gripping the free end of the hairspring associated with said balance wheel, means for rotatably mounting said rollers on said frame in superimposed relation and in substantial vertical alignment with said bearings, means for rotating one of said rollers to feed the hairspring through said rollers and shorten its effective length, a support over which said hairspring slides after it leaves said rollers, said support havin substantially the same elevation as the point at which said rollers grip said hairspring, means for pressing the upper roller toward the lower roller, and means for adjusting said upper roller to a position in which a vertical line through its rotational axis is nearer to the support than the corresponding vertical line through the rotational axis of the lower roller, whereby said pressing means is effective to permanently bend and increase the radius of curvature of a section of the outer coil of said hairspring when said section is fed through said rollers.

4. A stand as claimed in claim 3, wherein the support comprises die means for marking the hairspring and for cutting off the excess length.

5. A stand as claimed in claim 3, wherein means is provided for adjusting the elevation of the support relative to the rollers.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS LESTER M. GRETHER. Number Name Date HAR TURNER 406,655 Logan July 9, 1889 FRED R SCHWEIGLER 5 788,027 De Barthe ADI. 25, 1905 2,231,849 Gibbs et a1 Feb. 11, 1941 REF RENC CITED 2,236,907 Hoffsommer Apr. 1, 1941 

